How To Pray When You Don’t Have The Words To Say

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information please see our disclosure here.

Morena, friends! Today on the blog I’m inviting Tega from Social Hermit to share some of her wisdom about prayer. She’s got some great tips for when we get stuck and don’t know what to pray, and they’re great ideas for sharing with our students too. (Tega also has some fabulous resources on prayer that are suitable for students: a free email course (see below) and an eBook.) I hope you enjoy what she has to share today! Welcome, Tega 🙂

“Prayer is a part of our walk with Christ that a lot of us know is important. But, have you ever positioned yourself to pray and then your mind just went blank? Let’s talk about how to pray when you don’t have the words to say.

Prayer is how we communicate with God.
Most of us know this. We know it is integral to our growth in Christ. We know it is how we do battle in the spiritual realm. However, it’s not uncommon to L have needs, requests, praise on your heart but no words to communicate them.
If that’s ever happened to you, today I am sharing with you 5 ways to pray when you don’t have the words to say.

Pray God’s Word Back to Him

God’s Word is power and life unto us. In Hebrews, we are told that it is alive and sharper than a double-edged sword:

For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

In this post, I talk about the importance of reading the Bible regularly. You learn more about what God expects of you when you spend time reading the Bible. You also learn about the promises He has made to you. The next time you find yourself at a loss of words when you want to talk to Heavenly Father, just begin to repeat His words back to Him.
Ask Him for help with fulfilling His expectations for you. Remind Him of the promises He made to you.
Position your Heart to be in the presence of God and read a Psalm out loud.
Sometimes, it’s enough to say God’s Words back to Him instead of trying to think of your own Words. Actually, the Bible should be the basis for most of our prayers. That’s why the Simplifying Prayer guide has a whole section on the importance of God’s Word for our prayer lives.

Ask the Holy Spirit to Intercede

The Holy Spirit is extremely vital in our walk with Christ and in our prayer lives. Here’s what we see in Romans:

Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

We have been given the Holy Spirit as a teacher, comforter, guide and so many other things. He knows your heart and your needs. The next time you find yourself at a loss of words when you want to talk to Heavenly Father, try surrendering to the Holy Spirit.
Just say: Holy Spirit, I don’t have the words to say right now, intercede on my behalf. Help my heart to remain aligned with you and give me the wisdom to say the right words.
If you have received the gift of tongues, speak in tongues.
You don’t have to fumble or feel inadequate when you don’t have the words because the Holy Spirit in you is more than adequate.

Write What’s on Your Heart

I don’t know about you, but there’s something about writing that just brings focus and clarity to my mind. Most mornings when I wake up and feel my mind wavering and struggling to focus when it’s time to pray, I just grab my prayer journal and I begin writing.
I always start my giving thanks and before I know it I’m pouring my heart out to God on paper.Writing shifts you from having to think about the “right words” and helps you enter a place of honesty with God. I’m not sure what it is but I think writing makes you feel less vulnerable.
At least it does with me.
At the same time, it also helps me think clearly and stay focused. It’s a weird juxtaposition.
But the next time you next time you find yourself at a loss of words when you want to talk to Heavenly Father, try grabbing pen and paper and writing your thoughts, requests, praise, and feelings out to the Lord. See if that helps you find those words that were missing.

Worship Him

Worship can often help us enter a place of awe and surrender with Heavenly Father. God wants you to worship Him.

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:23-24

So if you find yourself at a loss for words to say, don’t try to force it. Just shift gears and begin to worship Him. Sing your favorite hymn or worship song.
If it helps, find it on a device and play it.
And before you know it, words of adoration might just start pouring out of you. Words of praise and needs might begin to well up in you as you worship in Spirit and Truth.

Say the Lord’s Prayer

One last suggestion that I like to share is to pray the Lord’s prayer. Jesus taught it to us for a reason. Sometimes that simple prayer has all the words we need to say to God. Jesus said:

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this… Matthew 6:7-9

The Lord’s Prayer takes you through praising God, to asking for your needs, to confessing your sins, to praising Him again. Jesus taught it to us for a reason. We often overthink prayer believing that it needs to be something elaborate and complicated.
We see from the Lord’s prayer that that’s not the case. So the next time you position yourself to pray and find that you don’t have the words to say? Just say the Lord’s prayer.

I hope these suggestions for how to pray when you don’t have the words to say have been helpful for you. What are some of your favorite ways to pray when you’re at a loss for words?”

Leave a comment below and let’s chat.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tega is a National Certified Counselor and Yoga Coach who specializes in helping busy people build their home yoga practice and deepen their relationship with God. She runs a blog called SocialHermit, where she shares her best yoga tips and routines, as well as ways to stay healthy spiritually. Click here to begin your yoga practice today.Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

These are such great words of advice. There are so many times when I’m overwhelmed and simply allow the Holy Spirit to intercede for me. Such a wonderful post for those struggling to get the words out or feel that how to talk to God needs to be a complicated affair. Thank you for sharing this. I’m Pinning to help spread this message.

Jen, thank you for your kind words and for sharing this! I often find that people get stumped when they think of prayer as a complicated affair, as you so rightly put it. I’m glad that this post was able to get across my hope of Simplifying Prayer for those who might be struggling.